ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997 TAG: 9701170072
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
SOURCE: KELLEY SHANNON ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this friendly little ranching town, ``Hello'' is wearing out its welcome, and Leonso Canales Jr. is happy as heck.
At his urging, Kleberg County commissioners on Monday unanimously designated ``Heaven-o'' as the county's official greeting.
The reason: ``Hello'' contains the word ``Hell.''
``When you go to school and church, they tell you `hell' is negative and `heaven' is positive,'' said Canales, 56, who owns the Kingsville Flea Market. ``I think it's time that we set a new precedent, to tell our kids that we are positive adults.''
The county resolution calls ``Heaven-o'' a ``symbol of peace, friendship and welcome'' in this ``age of anxiety.''
Courthouse employees are answering the phones, ``Heaven-o.'' And the chamber of commerce plans to promote Kingsville, a Rio Grande Valley town of 25,000, as a ``heavenly'' place to visit.
Not everyone is a convert to the heavenly ways. Madolyn Musick, who runs a bookstore, insisted - and linguists would agree - that ``hello'' has nothing to do with ``hell.'' Besides, she added, ``What's wrong with, `Howdy, y'all'?''
David Sabrio, a professor of English at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, noted that the Oxford English Dictionary says ``hello'' stems from an old German greeting for hailing a boat, and has nothing to do with the underworld.
``People may make that connection in their own mind,'' he said. ``I certainly don't.''
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB